Ames City Council will revisit abatement on S. 16th Street

Tuesday

May 22, 2012 at 8:57 AMMay 22, 2012 at 8:59 AM

The Deery Brothers auto dealership tried to sweeten a tax abatement deal with the city of Ames through the offer of land donation and flood mitigation, and a tie-breaking mayoral vote on an Ames City Council motion Tuesday ensures the council will revisit the idea.

The Deery Brothers auto dealership tried to sweeten a tax abatement deal with the city of Ames through the offer of land donation and flood mitigation, and a tie-breaking mayoral vote on an Ames City Council motion Tuesday ensures the council will revisit the idea.

Last month, the council rejected in a 3-3 vote the establishment of a tax abatement district that would have included a proposed Deery Brothers project at SE 16th Street and S. Dayton Avenue.

Though the council was hearing a staff report on the additional offers from the Deery Brothers and took no vote on the abatement, the opinions for and against the abatement lined up the same way as they did last month, with At Large Councilman Matthew Goodman, Ward 4 Councilwoman Victoria Szopinski, and Ward 1 Tom Wacha not in support of the abatement, and Ward 2 Councilman Jami Larson, At Large Councilman Peter Orazem, and Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Davis supporting the abatement.

Larson made a motion late in the discussion to revisit the previous criteria suggested to form the abatement district, which also failed on a 3-3 vote, and the Mayor Ann Campbell then voted to break the tie. The council will again consider the tax abatement district criteria in June.

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